29 Octubre 2024 - Decréixer per viure millor - Biennal del pensament - CC Can Felipa
Decréixer per viure millor?. 9 d’octubre, a les 18.00 h, a la plaça pública al costat del Centre Cívic Can Felipa.
Amb el professor, Jason Hickel, expert en decreixement; i Rubén Martínez, expert en transició ecològica. Aquesta conversa explorarà si és possible solucionar la crisi climàtica actual sense transformar profundament el nostre model social i econòmic. Hickel discutirà la seva proposta d’una economia postcapitalista, analitzant com el decreixement podria oferir una alternativa viable davant el col·lapse ecològic i qüestionant si la visió modernista de la natura encara és rellevant.
https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/santmarti/ca/noticia/la-biennal-de-pensament-a-can-felipa_1438441
Dr Jason Hickel. Profe de l'ICTA UAB, profe de institut de desigualtats globals de Londres.
What really Degrowth means?
Growth: aggregated industrial production, in GDP.
In order to achieve social progress or well being, specific forms of growth are needed, not just aggregated growth in global
We have massive overproduction of some things that produce economic profit, and underproduction of needed things for humans, for sustainability, that do not produce such economic profit.
GDP measures gross domestic (economic) product, in any type of economic activity.
What to use instead of GDP?
Some alternatives are taking GDP and substracting social and ecologic indicators, etc.
Add indicators of what we want to achieve, measure and do public policy about it...
Gdp is made for capital; it is what matters to them, it is not to fix the problem
We need more democratic control over the productive resources we have as a society.
Metrics: it's important for public policy, but is not enough.
We can have better society with less (global) production (in terms of GDP).
Ecological crisis is produced by the ruling class, not due to personal consumption, not due to the working class (working class desn't have control over production and the energy system, while the ruling class does)
Consumptions from the elite. The very rich, they have control of what we are producing.
Who controls production? Who controls decisions over the productive system?
Put power over the working classes to control what we are producing, etc .
We need a political party, a political vehicle to put control over this.
Redistribution vs degrowth
Less is more (book from Jason Hickel)
The singularity of capitalism is the appropriation of common language, common goods, etc.
Why not redistribution?
Because we need to democratically choose where to invest our resources (production capacity, human labour, economic resources, ...), not just redistribute what is currenty being produced.
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Capitalism is undemocratic (vs previous economic systems)
Democracy is (currently) not allowed to enter the economic system. We spend the majority of our working lives under the rules of capitals and corporations.
"Universal public services are needed" (health care, housing, education, child car, nutritious food, basic things if decent living have to be democratized).
We need post-capitalist markets, with more economic democracy. We need to prioritize what is being produced.
Transformation of the control of production is what is needed
Green growth: very popular socially (decoupling from fossil fuels, etc)
Book from Jeremy Rifkin: ...
Do economic decoupling from fossil fuels exist?
Gdp is rising but falling sustainable indicators.
"Absolute decoupling"
Emission reductions: we need very rapid economic changes.
Much faster mitigation is needed.
You have to reduce total energy use. Less necessary form of energy need to be reduced.
The less energy we use in our economy, the faster we can decarbonize to meet goals of Paris agreement.
"Fossil fuel non proliferating treaty"-Initiative. A bunch of countries have signed it
https://fossilfueltreaty.org/ - Join the call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty to Manager a Global Transition to safe, renewable & affordable energy for all
Critical actions needed by socialist governments: Unemployment and housing, rent controls, etc. And they are not doing it. But they could
"Public job warrany" is critically needed.
Governments need to deal with economic insecurity
Who control financial investments in our production system?
Fossil fuels and renewables
Renewable energy is not as profitable than fossil fuel energy. And Capital is (currently) driven by profit.
See money as a public good
Reclaim the right to produce money not because of the economic profit that it can produce (what drives blanks producing loans or not), but because of social goals achieved, etc.
Public funding is key here.
Public finance will produce inflation, if no side measures are taken by governments.
Solution to prevent inflation (while investing in what society needs): __Decrease private production also, limiting (by law) the amount of investments private companies can do on certain sectors.
We need to liberate the working capacity in our society, while we redefine our public objective, etc.
Not enough housing stock? use public finance to build more
House redistribution needed? Limit the number of houses per person we can have. Taxing for the 2nd and 3rd house, taxed high enough, etc. Houses will be liberated to the market, prices controlled (more abundance, etc)
Every household should affordably own his own house.
Lets have realistic dreams, and lets help people to achieve them.
Why don't we have a public food system? (Like a public health center) Kitchen with healthy, organic foods. With kitchen & convivial meals, transform our food system,
A public option for food. Abolish food unsecurity. It's cheap and affordable to do. We don't do it because it's not profitable to capital.
A typical day in a ecosocial postcapitalist economy in Barcelona:
- We need to remove growth imperatives
- 1) Universal public services warranted (food, accommodation, health, ...)
- 2) Public job warranty. Regenerating ecosystem, doing more care for elders, more renewable energy set/places, etc. Including market competing prices to pay workers.
- 3) Ensuring universal access to good wages.
- 4) Artificial scarcity is abolished
Capital strike risk? (Like in the 70's) We don't needed to follow it, we can use public finance.
Degrowth vs Ecosocialism as a term to use
"Degrowth" is provocative as a term, it creates discussion and allows us to get deeper into the topic/conversations/discussion of what is needed, etc. Some industries need to scale down... degrowth allows to discuss about it. It brings clarity and focus for this.
However, you can use the term "Ecosocialism", instead of degrowth, when you can't accompany the "degrowth" word with the explanation to the masses of what "degrowth" means in reality (beyond the single provocative word).
Global South needs growth. Global North needs "degrowth"
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